The legal team that represents lightweight champion BJ Penn — four days removed from a technical knockout loss to welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 94 on Jan. 31 — today sent a formal request (not a complaint) to the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

The three-page letter is designed to ensure that the sanctioning body engages “in a comprehensive investigation and review of the activities involving and relating to Georges St. Pierre prior to and during the bout.”

St. Pierre’s cornermen during the fight applied Vaseline to his back and shoulders, which is illegal under the rules of the sport. Ringside officials noticed the generous helping of petroleum jelly on the backside of the Canadian and sprung into action, wiping him down with towels after rounds two and three.

“Rush” isn’t giving excuses for the incident, saying it was just a minor mistake caused by the between-round frenzy. UFC President Dana White — who is taking the issue very seriously — has since blamed “stupid” cornermen (Greg Jackson and Phil Nurse) for the infraction.

The letter to the NSAC indicates that not only is greasing illegal, but it taints the reputation of the sport and jeopardizes the health and safety of those who participate in it.

Furthermore, it states the application of Vaseline put Penn at a serious disadvantage during the fight because as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist, “The Prodigy” relies on his ability to apply techniques and strategies designed to immobilize or cause potential injury to his opponent.

With that ability neutralized, Penn’s attorney contends that his client was put in an environment that was both “life threatening” and “career ending.”

agreed. i doubt anything is going to come of this anyway. it's just being blown way out of proportion.

tepid55

2/4/09 6:15:11PM

He's just mad because GSP beat him fair and square.

bigox420

2/4/09 6:16:38PM

Penn’s attorney contends that his client was put in an environment that was both “life threatening” and “career ending.”

wow that is pretty harsh. “life threatening” and “career ending.” lol

Boo_Radley21

2/4/09 6:25:40PM

Posted by bigox420

Penn’s attorney contends that his client was put in an environment that was both “life threatening” and “career ending.”

wow that is pretty harsh. “life threatening” and “career ending.” lol

BJ is starting to sound like the little tattle tale who says anything to get the other kid in more trouble.

grappler0000

2/4/09 6:30:16PM

Ringside officials noticed the generous helping of petroleum jelly on the backside of the Canadian and sprung into action...

I'm still reserving judgment, but I don't honestly remember it happening quite like that.

Deathbringer

2/4/09 6:55:01PM

I've lost a ton of respect for BJ... I would have loved to hear him come out and admit he got beat by the better man. Instead he's going to let his lawyer claim that it was all a result of the tiny bit of vaseline that may have ended up on GSP's shoulder blade. Yeah right.

DCRage

2/4/09 6:59:59PM

Also, it's NOT a formal complaint and the NSAC does not consider it one. So technically he's not yet asking for a protest or whatever official avenues would need to be taken to trigger one.

Jackelope

2/4/09 7:05:58PM

I'm glad they chose this avenue to file the protest. This protects the image of the sport and ensures the level playing field. BJ is not asking for the decision to be overturned as far as I can tell. He and his camp are only doing the right things to ensure the sport maintains its purity.

As for things like "life threatening" and such, those are just legal terms that have to be thrown in with paper to push this stuff through. The only people that are blowing this out of proportion are the people on either side of the argument (be they GSP fans or BJ fans) who aren't waiting for all the facts to come through.

tuvok500

2/4/09 7:07:41PM

Posted by DCRage

Also, it's NOT a formal complaint and the NSAC does not consider it one. So technically he's not yet asking for a protest or whatever official avenues would need to be taken to trigger one.

Like i said in another post, the commissioner himself was telling that Nurse was maybe having a minuscule residual of vasoline on his hand when he touched GSP's back and shoulders.

So, if they need a guy to fall, i think Nurse gonna be the one and will probably be fine for 500$ or even only a warning.You don't ban a guy for touching a fighter with maybe a minuscule residual vaseline on his hand, it happen at every event on a lot of fighters.

grappler0000

2/4/09 7:08:58PM

Posted by DCRage

Also, it's NOT a formal complaint and the NSAC does not consider it one. So technically he's not yet asking for a protest or whatever official avenues would need to be taken to trigger one.

I'm not saying that BJ doesn't have the right to complain, but that actually just sounds like a matter of semantics to me. If they can't overturn the ruling, what is the difference between a request and a complaint. I'm assuming they'll investigate the incident in the same manner. And I also assume they'll make the same decisions if they find any wrong doing.

I'm no expert, so I could be wrong here...so, does anyone know the difference between a request and a complaint?

GDK

2/4/09 7:16:29PM

Hell I thought it was all a load of hooha over nothingI didn't see it happening during the fightI thought people were just trying to steal Akiyama’s ‘greased lightning’ nickname, And use it in the UFC

I thought BJ was clutching at strawsEspecially since he didn't make the initial complaintOr any complaint during the fightBut I guess he was concentrating on fighting

Dana seemed pissed in his video blogAs he walked over to Rashad with a ‘what’s with the greasing’ attitudeRashad responded with a ‘**** if I know, what are you asking me for’ type responseDana walks away kinda all ’that’s all I needed, Fedor nearly kills Arlovski and I get a greasing scandal’

Then I saw the footagePretty damning if ya ask meHe didn’t finish the face smearing only to pat him of the back for good luckHe applied Vaso, then rubbed his chest, applied Vaso again, then rubbed his back. And in clear sight. Unless GSP was suffering from a cold, and being tucked in bed, thats not on.His corner man must have had a brain explosionTo be that stupid

RampageOwnedYou

2/4/09 7:28:55PM

Seems to me like alot of GSP fans taking this personal. Im not a fan of either, and he did put vasoline on his back, how do you guys not see it? And it would be a good thing, if it does get addressed so we dont have to deal with this sort of thing again. Its a shame it happened, but it did. So lets all just be realistic about the situation, and stop slamming BJ and in denial that it happened, because its just getting out of hand. Not only that, why would you want this in the sport? Im sorry, but there is no need to rub a fighters back, ESPECIALLY with vasoline. Did BJ get a rub down? The guy didnt even get any vasoline on him during the fight. So why does GSP need half a jar on him in between rounds? He was winning. lol

Just My Opinion!

Pookie

2/4/09 7:58:58PM

Posted by Jackelope

I'm glad they chose this avenue to file the protest. This protects the image of the sport and ensures the level playing field. BJ is not asking for the decision to be overturned as far as I can tell. He and his camp are only doing the right things to ensure the sport maintains its purity.

As for things like "life threatening" and such, those are just legal terms that have to be thrown in with paper to push this stuff through. The only people that are blowing this out of proportion are the people on either side of the argument (be they GSP fans or BJ fans) who aren't waiting for all the facts to come through.

all of the people saying they've lost respect for BJ penn because of him addressing the issue, or losing respect for Gsp for "greasing" are either ill-informed or simply acting childish about the whole matter.

Solidus

2/4/09 8:16:03PM

People who say BJ is looking for excuses are just sounding ignorant at this point. We've all clearly seen what happened during the PPV and it's ridiculous that the NSAC did not catch this. If you're coming into a fight and you have to deal with the disadvantage of something you're opponent is doing illegally, no matter how trivial it may seem, as in BJ's case then he absolutely should file a complaint. The fact that he isnt the only fighter to complain about GSP being greased only gives more reason to pursue action to make sure it doesnt happen again.

loller90278

2/4/09 8:53:52PM

Posted by GDK

Hell I thought it was all a load of hooha over nothingI didn't see it happening during the fightI thought people were just trying to steal Akiyama’s ‘greased lightning’ nickname, And use it in the UFC

I thought BJ was clutching at strawsEspecially since he didn't make the initial complaintOr any complaint during the fightBut I guess he was concentrating on fighting

Dana seemed pissed in his video blogAs he walked over to Rashad with a ‘what’s with the greasing’ attitudeRashad responded with a ‘**** if I know, what are you asking me for’ type responseDana walks away kinda all ’that’s all I needed, Fedor nearly kills Arlovski and I get a greasing scandal’

Then I saw the footagePretty damning if ya ask meHe didn’t finish the face smearing only to pat him of the back for good luckHe applied Vaso, then rubbed his chest, applied Vaso again, then rubbed his back. And in clear sight. Unless GSP was suffering from a cold, and being tucked in bed, thats not on.His corner man must have had a brain explosionTo be that stupid

i'd feel dumb if this isn't a poem or something of the sort, as i was reading it like one

Aether

2/4/09 9:00:28PM

Posted by loller90278

Posted by GDK

Hell I thought it was all a load of hooha over nothingI didn't see it happening during the fightI thought people were just trying to steal Akiyama’s ‘greased lightning’ nickname, And use it in the UFC

I thought BJ was clutching at strawsEspecially since he didn't make the initial complaintOr any complaint during the fightBut I guess he was concentrating on fighting

Dana seemed pissed in his video blogAs he walked over to Rashad with a ‘what’s with the greasing’ attitudeRashad responded with a ‘**** if I know, what are you asking me for’ type responseDana walks away kinda all ’that’s all I needed, Fedor nearly kills Arlovski and I get a greasing scandal’

Then I saw the footagePretty damning if ya ask meHe didn’t finish the face smearing only to pat him of the back for good luckHe applied Vaso, then rubbed his chest, applied Vaso again, then rubbed his back. And in clear sight. Unless GSP was suffering from a cold, and being tucked in bed, thats not on.His corner man must have had a brain explosionTo be that stupid

i'd feel dumb if this isn't a poem or something of the sort, as i was reading it like one

I was going to quote him and ask if he was writing hai-kus

pinoymixplaya

2/4/09 9:18:01PM

at first i thought this was a big joke and BJ is trying to come up with excuses to make up for his loss, but calling back to that night watching the fight i remember thinking about how horrible his guard was so I watched the fight again and there it was, BJ's legs just sliding off GSP's upper back and shoulders repeatedly. I dunno if it was intentional or not, but CONVENIENTLY the place the Vaseline was on was where BJ had to put his legs on in order to attack GSP.

I have really been wanting to watch BJ get his face smashed in but not because of a cheater's advantage.